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UE NeedToKnow
UE Homepage | Rules Page | Terms Page This is a crash course in my setting for new players, particularly new Anima players. #All players’ are creating Heroic Mortal PC's. #As a general ruling any magic, psychic, Ki, or other ability or effect that provides a characteristic/ability bonuses and/or additional DP are non-recursive. #Effects that provide additional DP's for characters to purchase power's from Anima Ch. 26 or with which to purchase basic abilities do not increase character level. You do not gain characteristic increases, class bonuses, or innate bonuses to secondary abilities. The additional DP is used to determine comparative power levels. =Setting Terms= The meaning of the word Essence is very different between White Wolfs Exalted Setting which is the basis for my game world and the Anima rule set which is used to run the game. As it’s more expansive and linked to the setting I will use the Exalted meaning in general and the Anima reference will be explicitly stated. Setting Definitions: #'Essence': The magical energy from which all things are formed and which empowers and defines all changes. Includes Ki energy, psychic matrix's, Zeon. It defines and affects every thing which exists in the real world, and empowers and allows everything in the game which would not be possible for the play to do in the real world. #'Wood Essence: Term used to describe the Anima Beyond Fantasy Essence school of magic. #'Essence Manipulation': The ability to '''consciously' manipulate, control and generate Essence. Magic, Psychic Abilities, Élan Abilities, Ki Abilities are all forms of Essence Manipulation. #'Innate Essence Ability': A natural ability to use Essence that is part of a beings nature, often instinctual. Many Creature powers are Innate Essence Abilities, rather than learned skills. #'Enlightened / Essence User': Both terms refer to beings able to consciously manipulate Essence. #'Personal Essence': The amount of Essence a being possesses and its ability to use that Essence. Basically a character's Ki points, Zeon, Psychic Points, or other measure of power, and its Gnosis level, or simply how much of a bad ass you are. #'Essence Refinement / Permanent Essence / Essence Level': This refers to the degree to which and individual has refined and purified their personal Essence. It is an indicator of a being's overall power level similar to Gnosis and power level. #'Aura of Exaltation': A powerful construct of purified God Essence which attaches it's self to the soul of a human being. It increases the beings current over all Essence level and gives the ability to further refine Personal Essence, and other abilities. In Core Anima the Imperium uses Technomagic to empower is heavy enforcers the Jurgand (Anima pg. 253.), the Exalted are the setting equivalent and the means of empowerment is the Aura of Exaltation. Player character's do not start as Exalted or have an Aura. #'Mortal': Normal human beings or equivalent non-humans, your run of the mill NPC's. #'Heroic Mortal': A human or equivalent that is exceptional, special, and destined to play a significant roll in Fate. i.e. PC's and important NPC's. #'Exalted (person)': A former Heroic Mortal who has Exalted, due to birth or being chosen. See below. #'Exalted (game system): A role-playing game published by White Wolf publishing. The Exalted setting provides the basis of this setting, but has been taken in a different direction. #'Anima / Anima Beyond Fantasy': A role-playing game by SAGE, Fantasy Flight Games and ANIMARPG studios which provides the rules that are used in this setting. =What the Hell Is an Exalted= Short Version The Exalted are the setting equivalent of Core Anima Beyond Fantasy’s Imperial Jurgand Agents. They are high powered beings that direct the course of history and can put the smack down on PC's. They belong to various factions and organizations who are engaged in generally covert power struggles in pursuit of a wide range of objectives. The Terrestrial Exalted also known as Dragon Blooded are the most common, are often encountered, and lowest in power. They are the equivalent to the "normal" agents of the Imperium, the Church, Samuel or other Anima organizations. They have more power and access to cool toys for player to fight and normally overcome. The Celestial Exalted (Solar, Lunar, Sidereal, Abyssal, and Infernals) are much greater in power, ability and access to resources. They are also much lower in number than Terrestrial. They are the masterminds, leaders and founders of major organizations and are a major threat to PC's. Long Version The Exalted are Mortals (normal humans) given power by the Incarnae (Greatest Gods) to aid the Gods in over throwing the Primordial Makers. Exaltation (becoming one of the Exalted) gives an immediate boost in power (Characteristics increase, extra Creation Points) and more importantly an increase in maximum potential. (Higher Characteristic maximums, Access to Inhumanity and Zen, ??) There are multiple types of Exalted, with varying power levels and means of Exalting. Exaltation comes in one of two forms Inherited and Chosen, only the weakest of the Exalted the Terrestrial Exaltation is passed down thru bloodlines, all other forms are bestowed on adult Mortals who are destined to play a significant role in destiny or that meet various other requirements. (Heroic Mortals become Lunars, Sidereals, Solars, Abyssals, and Infernals) All forms of Exalted are broken into Five Castes (favored Archetypes’ and Classes, and various benefits). Terrestrial Exalted aka Dragon Blooded The weakest and most common of the Exalted are the Terrestrial Exalted, more commonly called the Dragon Blooded (DB) and are empowered by the Five Elemental Dragons. (Air, Earth, Water, Fire, Wood) Dragon Blooded where created to serve as foot soldiers in the Great War (Rebellion against the makers). To ensure a large supply of troops for the war the Terrestrial Exaltation was created so that it could be passed down thru bloodlines and the Dragon Blooded where given a massive sex drive and ability to reproduce. In the beginning Dragon Blooded where only allowed to mate with other DB's and everyone born of the bloodline would Exalt sometime after puberty. in time this restriction was broken and eventually ignored and discarded all together, the resulting inbreeding with normal Mortals diluted the blessing of the Elemental Dragons eventually resulting in the birth of a child of the blood who never Exalted at all. In the current Age many children of the blood never Exalt at all and those who do so very a great deal in power depending on the purity of their blood. The five castes of the Dragon Blooded are Air, Earth, Water, Fire, and Wood (Essence Spell list in Anima). Dragon Blooded live for at least 300 years with 500 years being quite common. Assuming of course that they do not die of natural causes such as being impaled thru the heart with a sword before age gets them. Celestial Exalted aka The Chosen The other groups of Exalted are all Chosen for Exaltation, which is the process of having an Aura of Exaltation attached to your soul. An Aura of Exaltation is an artificial construction created by a rebel primordial and the Incarnae to empower humans. The binding of the Aura and the target Mortals soul is permanent once formed and does not allow the Incarnae to dictate the actions of the Exalted. Simply put, once given, the aura can not be removed, the power placed into it can not be removed, and resulting Exalted being is not under the magical control of the Incarnae who gave the power. It was made this way to prevent the Makers from ordering the rebellious Gods to either with draw their power from the Exalted or order the Exalted to stop the war. BUT the Gods where not stupid and retained a means of both motivating Exalted actions and controlling their power level. Basically an Aura of Exaltation is a container with a one way door into which the Incarnae could pour massive amounts of power to quickly bring a newly Exalted Mortal up to the power level needed to fight the Makers or as was the case after the Great War was finished, choose to only add smaller amounts when pleased by the actions of the Exalted. The Exalted are still able to improve themselves thru effort and training of course, as would any other human being. (The Exalted are almost always human, like 99.9999% of the time.) In game system terms, the power given by the Gods is measured in the form of additional Development Points, Creation Points and Gnosis. During the Great War the Incarnae invested large amounts of DP, CP and most importantly Gnosis in their new champions to prevent the Makers from swatting them like fly’s. After the War the Gods where understandably cautious about having a bunch of yahoo's with massive unrestrained power wandering around and stopped giving new Exalted massive power boosts. Instead the power boost became the carrot which served to motivate the Exalted to perform as the Gods desired. The Incarnae provided the majority of the power given to the Exalted during the Great War (They are the strongest of all the Gods) but it is possible for any God to gift an Exalted with a portion of their personal power, as a bribe or reward. '''Note: Attempting to threaten or force even the lowest God into doing, causes ALL of the Gods to view the character AND THEIR ALLIES as being in rebellion against the Gods and they respond swiftly with over whelming force.' There are three primary types of Celestial Exalted, the Lunar, Sidereal and Solar Exalted. Each of the types are empowered by different members of the Incarnae, who are the most powerful of the greatest Gods, each of which is represented by one of the celestial bodies in Creations Sky. Listed from weakest to strongest the Incarnae are, The Five Maidens (Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn) who are all equally powerful, Luna (The Moon) and Helo the Unconquered Sun. Sidereal Exalted The Sidereal Exalted are the least numerous of the Celestial Exalted number only 100 total. Each of the Five Maidens empowers 20 of the Sidereal Exalted with abilities related to the Maidens area of influence. Sidereals are very powerful within their areas of specialty but lack the adaptability of the Lunar Exalted and the raw power of the Solar Exalted. The Sidereal where created to serve as advisors, viziers, planners, counselors, and masters of intrigue and the martial arts. The Sidereals where intended to fulfill support and advisory roles to assist the Lunar and Solar Exalted in fighting the Great War. Five Maidens are #Mercury the Maiden of Journeys #Venus the Maiden of Serenity (Sex, Love, Joy, Excess, etc) #Mars the Maiden of Battles #Jupiter the Maiden of Secrets #Saturn the Maiden of Endings Lunar Exalted The Lunar Exalted are empowered by Luna the Changing One, and number 300 total. Lunar's are powerful shape shifters who are mighty in battle and able to adapt to and prosper under a variety of conditions. Lunar's where created to serve as the viceroys, generals and strategists of the Solars and often their consort as well. Lunars are generalists to a degree and Lunar characters are able to perform many tasks well but can not reach the heights of power that Solars can achieve. The ability to shape shift allows Lunars to act as unparalleled spies, scouts, assassins and other roles that require the ability to enter secure locations unobserved. Helo being the arrogant bastard that he is, required that HIS Exalted have dominion over the other Exalted before he would allow them to be created. (Despite the fact it was his idea.) Luna being a tricky bitch convinced Helo, that each of her Lunar Exalted would be bounded and vulnerable to a single Solar mate, which satisfied Helo and left the Lunar at full power against all of the other Solars. Solar Exalted The Solar Exalted are empowered by Helo, The Unconquered Sun and are the most powerful of the Exalted as they share a portion of Helo's perfection and unrivaled power. They also share his massive arrogance while lacking his eons long experience, sense of restraint, and unshakeable duty to the maintenance and defense of Creation. 300 Solar Aura's of Exaltation where forged for the Great War and where intended for the Mortals who were to be the rulers of Creation and the other Exalted and would wield massive power that would allow them to perform actions as close to perfection as was possible for a former Mortal. =UE History (Sarah Palin Version)= This is the short version of the history of Creation (name of the settings world) as understood by a semi-intelligent and slightly informed member of the population, aka as Sarah Palin and will provide a basic idea of the shape of the world and how it got as it was. Without any real understanding of why its is as it is and with a massively biased perspective. History Starts #Before time started, all was Pure Chaos. #A type of Being that humans would eventually come to call Primordial’s formed themselves from the Pure Chaos. In doing so they became a reference points by which all other things where measured as everything from then on was either a Primordial or not a Primordial. #Some of the Primordial’s who would come to be known as the Makers decided to form an area of relatively fixed reality in which to do there thing. This area is Creation and encompasses all of the fix reality of the setting. #The Makers created the Incarnea to maintain, run, defend and rule Creation, along with whole bunch of less powerful Gods to assist them. To prevent the Gods from ever turning against them. The Makers laid powerful magical oaths known as geasa upon the Gods that prevented them from using anything that was divine, or any of the stars or planets or moons or turning seasons, to screw over the Makers. But they forgot to include Mortals, as they never expected Mortals to be a threat to them. #Much time passes, during which the Makers amuse themselves with the Games of Divinity (aka The Great Games) a complex and addictive game that affected and was affects by events and being in Creation. Occasionally one or more of the Makers would turn from the Games and seek amusement in Creation. Which usually resulted in wide spread death and destruction to Creation and the beings living in it. And much fun was had by all. The Great War #The Gods had been doing all of the work for ages with out count (At least several million years) and eventually got sick of getting stuck with the shit work while the Makers had all of the fun and rebellion stirred in the hearts of the Gods. The Gods also felt pity on the unfortunate Mortals who suffered at the hands of bored Makers. #Eventually Helo the greatest of the Incarnae and ruler of Creation came up with the idea that each of the Incarnae would give some of their power to special Mortals who would use that power to destroy the Makers. ##The others agreed and with the help of a renegade Maker known as Autochthon the Great Maker the Aura's of Exaltation where created. (notice how many of these titles have Great in them.) ##One of the most powerful of the Makers, Gaia agreed to stand aside during the war. She also gave her blessing to some of her most powerful servants, The Five Elemental Dragons to empower mortals to serve as soldiers for the Celestial Exalted created by the Incarnae. These soldiers are the Terrestrial Exalted. ##The ranks of the Celestial Exalted are limited by the number of Aura's created. The Terrestrial Exalted did not have this limitation as they where to serves as cannon fodder and where expected to die heroically in large numbers. It was decided that the cheapest and easiest way to create large numbers of Terrestrials’ quickly would be to grant them a blessing that would pass down thru bloodline, give them a massive sex drive and then let them breed for a while. This was done and resulted in millions of Dragons Blooded being breed from a couple of dozen selected Mortals before the start of the war. (It’s important to remember that immortal beings do not tend to think and plan on the same time scale as human beings. ##Autochthon created weapons and armor with which to equip the armies of the Exalted. #'The Great War' Once everything was ready the Exalted attacked the Makers and eventually killed several and forced the remainder to submit to unbreakable oaths which created and bound them into Malfeas (aka Hell). Can't you just feel the massive number of things being left out here. #Victory secured the Gods took over Yu-Shan (aka Heaven) and the Incarnae started playing the Games of Divinity. Creation was left in the hands of the Exalted who were to rule and maintain it while the Gods took their first lunch break in millions of years. The First Age Everything went well at first, and the Exalted brought Mortal civilization to a level never achieved before or after this period. Well except for a couple of problems. Problems #Turns out that the Games of Divinity are the divine version of super crack and the Incarnae became increasingly unable to pull themselves away from the Games. But it's not like they are addicted or anything man and are loser's who can't quite. Because they can quite any they want to, they just don't want to, so leave them alone ok. #The Makers killed by the Exalted did not exactly die as they where eternal and truly immortal. Yet they had been killed by the Exalted. This little conflict caused a serious malfunction in the nature of reality and the blue screen of death was flashed to all Creation as the Makers died. When Creation rebooted, it was noticed that another layer of reality had been formed. The Underworld, a dark reflection of Creation in which the immortal souls of the slain Makers where constantly being swallowed by the Abyss of Nothingness. It was this event that scared the shit out of the other Makers and got them to surrender. #Previously when a Mortal died there soul would be stripped of memory and identity and reenter the cycle of reincarnation and be born in a new body. (Side note: Beings only reincarnate into the same type of being. If you start a human you come back as a human and not a bug, regardless of how much of a bastard you might have been in life. The fate of your new existence is an entirely different thing.) After the Underworld formed some Mortal souls did not immediately enter the cycle of rebirth, they hung around in the Underworld. This was considered to be a bad thing. #The Exalted of the Great War had been born into very primitive cultures which had yet to develop such ideas as equality, relative morality, ethical and social responsibility and other such niceties. The Solars in particular had been selected for there drive to conquer and rule over others, and a steed fast willingness to see there personal will done regardless of the cost or opposition. #The power gap between a powerful Solar and everyone else is significant, and allowed the 300 Solars who survived the Great War to dictate the fate of all Creation. The Lunar and Sidereal Exalted became lesser partners. The Dragon Blooded became second class citizens who existed for the single purpose of satisfying Solar whim. The lot of Mortals would change both a great deal and very little. Most would eventually live lives free of want and danger, with access to wonders beyond anything they had previously imagined. Yet the lives of all would continue according to the whim of more powerful beings who thought nothing of the suffering and destructions they caused. The 5000 or so years of the First Age is normally divided into three periods, Early (or Low), Middle, and High First Age. Early First Age #Unsurprisingly Early First Age Solar's where not very nice people and few of them played well with others. The Early First Age saw a rapid development in many areas and general Solar power levels. It did not see a similar growth in Solar maturity and ethical reasoning. Solar on Solar war's where common and damages and destroyed large areas as the Solar struggled to enforce their personal desires on all around them. And much fun was had by all. Middle First Age It is at this point that the UE setting of my games begins to differ a great deal with the White Wolf Exalted Setting. #For the most part the Exalted who survived the Great War where beings of massive power, able to sweep armies from the field, destroy mightily titans and enforce there vision of reality on all around them. Well on everyone but other similarly powerful beings, such as other Solars. With the Makers defeated along with most of their servants, the leading cause of Exalted death became other Exalted. #At the time the 700 Celestial Exalted where spread widely across Creation with no central organization or organized communication or cooperation, and the majority of encounters with other Exalted ended in violence. The results was that few of the Exalted knew more than a handful of the other well and no one had any real idea of where anyone was or what they where doing. #Eventually the Solar's began to notice that when a veteran Exalted died and its Aura pass on to a new Mortal, the new Exalted was much less powerful than those who Exalted before and during the Great War. (The Incarnae where no longer dumping as much Gnosis and Development Points into the newly Exalted as they did not require as powerful tools at the moment.) #A group of Solar Exalted under the leadership of Mala the Solar Queen, approached Helo and the other Incarnae about the problem as they played at the Games of Divinity. Helo's response was roughly "So what, now be a good girl and pass daddy his pipe." #Previously the Solars had mostly done their own thing, working together only when another power attempted to contest Solar domination. At the first sign of serious resistance the Solars would gather into an unstoppable army and slaughter all who stood before them, just as they had during the Great War. ##It was all well and good to kill each other off, while abusing and oppressing everyone else, so long as the Solar's expected a constant supply of reinforcements of similar power when one fell in battle, which prevented them from being overwhelmed by superior numbers in a war of attrition. ##'Solar's Exalting during the Great War where given a high Gnosis, 30-45 being the norm, a variety of powers and abilities (Creature Powers from Anima Chapter 26 200++ norm), (Extra Creation Points to purchase new Advantages 10+) and massive amounts of Development Points in almost every area. (Several thousand minimum). Solars Exalting after the war are Gnosis 10, do not start with Creature Powers, receive 2 additional Creation Points and an extra 50 development points.' #It did not take the veteran Solars long to realize that if they continued as they had been, it would not be long until a large percentage of their number would be much weaker newly Exalted making the rest of Creation an actual threat to their rule. It was decided that a more organized form of oppression was required and the Solar Deliberate was formed. High First Age #The Solar Deliberate unites all of Creation under systematic Solar rule. #It is during the High First Age that the pinnacle of development in the Sciences, Sorcery, Magitech, and Bio-Genesis are reached. #'The Post-War Exaltation Solar begin to show signs of madness. While the exact form varies between Solars, all show significant difficulty in emotional control and are prone to obsessive and delusional beliefs, most notably strong feelings of paranoia.' ##Originally assumed to be caused by the same problem causing the lower power level of the new Exalted and limited to them. In time it would be come clear that even the Veteran Solars' where being affected. This revelation would come to light far too late and exposure to the Solar Deliberate would cause wide spread conflict and witch-hunt’s. #Deeping insanity leads the Solars into ever deeper pits of depravity and horror. Creation and its people bleed under Solar rule as prayer for intervention fall on the deaf ears of the Incarnae, who never turn from the Games of Divinity to reign in the Solars. #'The Celestial Exalted believed themselves to be as Gods and that they shared the immortality of the Gods. The death of the first Celestial Exalted to die of old age would prove other wise and shake the Deliberate to its core.' #Faced with pending mortality the Elder Solars turn the majority of their power and resources to escaping death by any means, with an agreement that any results will be shared among all of the Deliberate Solars. Conflagration This is the UE version of Core Exalted' Usurpation. #As the excess of the Solar's continue to escalate, the Dragon Blooded began to gather in secret to discuss what should be done to save Creation from the fallen Solars. #The Dragon Blooded decided to overthrow the corrupted Solar rule and restore Creation to its previous glory. #Dragon Blooded servants simultaneously present evidence to multiple Solar indicating that methods of extending life indefinitely have been developed and keep secret due to resources limitations that allow a limited number of Solars to benefit from them. This sparks a massive multi sided battle among the Deliberate for control of these resources. Other's attempt to settle old scores before death takes them, and much fun is had by all. #The majority of the most powerful Celestial Exalted parish in the fighting. #Dragon Blood servants inform the surviving Lunars and Solars that a means of extending the live of all has been found and will be shared with all who agree to stop fighting. To prevent the secret from being stolen and horded it will be reveled to all Celestial Exalted who attend the annual Calibration celebration in the Imperial City. #The Solar's agree to the cease fire and gather for the feast, during which the Dragon Blooded stage an organized attack on the gathered Solars. Many of the highly paranoid Solar's assume the attack is the result of Solar betrayal and attack each other. In the end the virtuous Dragon Blood are able to defeat the corrupted Solars and their equally vile mates. Second Age The reign of the Princes of the Earth. Shogun Era #Newly Exalting Celestial Exalted are systematically hunted down and slain by the Dragon Blood's Wyld Hunt to prevent them from returning to power. #The Dragon Blooded rule over a reduced Creation as they prove unable to maintain or recreate the results of Solar brilliance and much of the First Age infrastructure collapses. #Several independent kingdoms break from the centralized imperial power based on the Blessed Isl. Other previously independent states also remain so. The Great Dying #A massive endemic known as the Great Contagion sweeps across Creation and is said to have killed 9 out of 10 people. The Contagion is impossible to cure by an available means both magical and mundane. #Seeing the defenses of Creation weakened beings hostile to creating known as the Fair Folk invade with the intent of unmaking Creation it's self. #Scattered and weakened Dragon Blood forces are unable to stem the invasion from the Wyld and many perish during the fighting. ##Suppressed legends tell of mighty Elder Celestials who had been in hiding sense the Conflagration appearing from the shadows to wage battle in defense of Creation. ##Suppressed legends also tell that some of these powers from the shadows had the ability to cure the Great Contagion. #A Dragon Blooded officer who would come to be known as the Scarlet Empress, enters the Imperial War Manse and activates the First Age weapons systems controlled within. Destroying the majority of the invaders and driving the rest back into the Wyld. Imperial Era The founding of the Scarlet Empire marks the start of the Imperial Calendar and is 0 EC (Imperial Calendar). The Scarlet Empress once had a personal name, out of humility and respect for her, none of her subjects used it and eventually it passed out of living memory and was forgotten. Year 0 The Founding #The Scarlet Empress gains control of the Blessed Isle and founds the Scarlet Empire. #Needing to replace the many Dragon Blooded who died from the Contagion and the following war. The Empress offers any and all Dragon Blooded a noble position in her new empire, many but not all accept. Those who did so become the Dynast Houses. #The Immaculate Order declares the Scarlet Empress the rightful ruler of Creation and that the Mandate of Heaven has descended to her. #The Empress in turn declares the Immaculate Order to be the official state religion and outlaws the practice of all other faiths. She gives broad power's to the priest and monks of the faith. #The Wyld Hunt responsible for finding and destroying returning Anathema is an official part of the Immaculate Faith and enjoys the full support of the Imperial Army. Year 0-200 Rebuilding #Ranks of the Imperial Army are being rebuilt and Dragon Blood population levels rapidly expand. #Empress consolidates control over the whole of the Blessed Isle, but has no contact with the outer lands. #A renegade field army of the Shoguns’ forces refuse to acknowledge the authority of the new Empress and found the independent nation-state of Lookshy in the region known as the Scavenger Land. #The empire of Krondor is founded in frozen plains of the southeast of the Pole of Air. A Solar known as the Bull of the North carves the empire out of a variety of warring barbarian tribes. Year 200-400 Expansion #The Scarlet Empire now has three full field armies complete with Dragon Blooded leaders and Shock divisions of the Dragon Touched. #Imperial Envoy's are sent to all of the kingdoms, cities, and groups in the lands surrounding the Inner Sea, offering the "protection" of the Empire, the majority of which accept. It is the righteousness and glory of the Empress that convinces them of course and not her possession of the Imperial War Manse and its First Age weapons or the larger, better equipped, trained and lead armies at her command. #'Imperial First Contract' It is during this time period that the Scarlet Empire first becomes aware of and makes contact with a number of independent states, which for various reasons reject the invitation to join the growing Empire. Information on these groups can be found under the independent states section. Year 400-895 Glory This is the heights of the Scarlet Empire. #Most states rimming the Inner Seas are vassal of the Empire, though the degree of Imperial control varies a great deal. The strongest vassals pay only lip service to the Empire while making a token tribute payment. Most are forced to day large amounts of tribute and submit to the rule of a satrap who governs in the name of the Empire with local authority have some power. A few states are little more than Imperial puppets who blindly follow Imperial will and send the majority of the nations wealth to the Empire. Year 895-899 Disappearance of the Empress #During the Calibration of 895 EC the Scarlet Empress disappeared from the Imperial Place (which is part of the Imperial War Manse). The Empress has a habit of periodically leaving the Palace in secret or disappearing in to the depths of the manse for days at a time, so her disappearance did not initially generate much concern. #After the Empress has been gone for several months the nobles of the Dynast Houses gather to decide on a Reagent to temporarily assume the duties of the Empress. After a great deal of debate the Houses decide on a compromise candidate with sharply limited power to prevent him from ceasing permanent power. #The Dynast Houses begin a covert struggle among themselves to determine who will next set the throne. As the years pass the Houses call home the majority of their troops and family members from the vassal states, the Imperial military, the Immaculate Order, and the Imperial Eye (Empire's spy network). #The Wyld Hunt is stripped to the bone as the Houses withdraw their support and call home their members. It is forced to close the majority of its chapter houses and restrict the majority of its activities to the Blessed Isle. #'Return of the Solars' For reasons unknown the Solar's begin to return in large numbers. The weakened Wyld Hunt is unable to destroy all of the returning Solars and several are able to establish themselves in the threshold. #The Deathlord known as the Mask of Winter destroys the city of Thorns in the threshold and assumes power. #The northern empire of Krondor invades the Inner Rim nation of Lehel a protectorate of the Scarlet Empire. The Empire dispatches the Tepet Legion to repel the invaders. The empires forces are decimated by the Khrondorian military on the fields of Gehenna. The Bull of the North is said to have lead the Khrondorian forces. This is highly disputed by the Scarlet Empire. =Year 900 Current Age= This is the campaign starting data. The events below are rumors and second hand information of events occurring far from the PC's and may or may not be accurate. (the same is true of everything above as well of course.) #Tensions among the Dynast Houses are reaching critical levels and they are arming to fight a civil war which could break out any day now. #Military conflict between the northern rim powers continues to rage in response to the Khrondorian invasion. #Large groups of organized non-human humanoids have been seen crossing the southern deserts. #The ancient Lawgiver's (Solars) have returned to restore/destroy/protect/enslave or a variety of other things depending on who you ask. =General Info= Encounters with Restless Titans Thru out the history of Imperial expansion there have been occasional encounter's with what Imperial military doctrine refer to as "Restless Titans". A typical Restless Titan incident features an Imperial force attempting to enter or subdue an independent or unexplored location. They are meet by a lone or small group of individuals, who sometimes attempts to warn off the invaders but more often simply attack. During the course of the following battle, most and sometimes all of the Imperial force are destroyed. The identity and nature of the "Titan" changes from encounter to encounter. The Empire attempts’ to keep these encounters off the radar but rumors still leak out and provide the best evidence of the existence of the powers in the shadows. The Titans have included Elder Exalted, Powerful Rouge Gods, Greater Elementals, Second and Third Circle Demons and others which are impossible to id. Often the only evidence is strings of missing military units sent to investigate the disappearance of first contact groups. Imperial authorities have been known to hire independent agents (Such as PC groups) to investigate. Power in the Blood Note: Core Exalted places the total number of Dragon Blooded in all of Creation at the end of this Era as less than 10,000. Their justification for this is that Dynasts have been breeding for purity and strength of blood. I feel this display's a some what limited view of selective breeding, geometric growth rates and the ability and willingness of a single male to impregnate multiple females given the opportunity, even lacking a supernaturally elevated sex drive. The UE setting use the following assumption of Dragon Blooded population levels. #The potency of a Dragon Blood's blood affects their power level. This potency is a complex recessive genetic trait. #Breeding with normal Mortals lowers blood potency and reduces power as the recessive trait is partially or fully suppressed. #Blood Potency can be increased thru selective cross-breeding of Dragon Blooded parents or those closely related to them. The recessive trait is more likely to breed true and to be expressed more fully. #Given unlimited access to a large supply of willing Mortal females (such as those offered a safe place to live right after a major disaster and war, or offered membership in a wealthy noble family.) a single Dragon Blooded male could produce hundreds of children in a single year. The majority of the children would be mortal and those who did Exalt would be weak. But the strongest of each generation could be breed with previous generations to increase potency. #Given that Dragon Blooded live hundreds of years, and have been intentionally interbreeding for over 800 years there are a lot of them, nor is the idea of human being deliberately choosing to make with close relatives or even direct descendants to maintain a "pure bloodline" a difficult one to justify. As it has been done many times by many groups in the real world. #'''As the majority of PC's will not be Solar's and will not have to deal with the automatic hatred and aggression of the majority of Dragon Blooded. The increased population levels are not going to automatically lead to either massively powerful PC or dead PCs. There are two different groups that share the ancient birthright of the Five Elemental Dragons, the Terrestrial Exalted and the Dragon Touched. Unsurprisingly the difference between them is the purity and potency of their bloodline. All decedents of the Mortals granted the blessing of the Elemental Dragons are known as the Children of the Blood, those lucky enough to possess sufficiently potent blood experience Exaltation sometime between their late childhood to early adult hood and are known as the Terrestrial Exalted, those of weaker blood are known as the Dragon Touched and vary a great deal in power level but are all weaker than the Terrestrial Exalted. Terrestrial Exalted The most blessed of the Children of the Blood Exalt into the Terrestrial Exalted. They are also referred to as the Dragon Blooded, The Pure, and Full Bloods. The majority of the Dragon Blooded resides on the Blessed Isle and is noble members of the Scarlet Empire. The Dragon Bloods of the Empire are generally known as Dynasts as most of them belong to the 12 Dynast House of the Empire. The Dynast's are the largest concentration of the Dragon Blooded in all of Creation, out numbering those in all other nations combined. It has been the strength of the Dynasts that has allowed the Scarlet Empire to rule most of Creation for the last 900 years. The ability to field entire divisions of super human warriors who are directed by super human generals using the equipment and technology developed and maintained by super human beings is a decisive advantage. The Scarlet Empire is said to have more than 100,000 Terrestrials Exalted attached to the Imperial Army and not only has the most of them but also is home to the most powerful Bloodlines. The total population of Imperial Dragon Bloods is a closely guarded Imperial secret. Rumors puts it’s as few as 80,000 (less than supposedly in the military) and 500,000 (not very likely, but not completely impossible.) depending on the source. Not all children born of a pure bloodline will receive Exaltation those who do not are generally equivalent to the more powerful of the Dragon Touched and are treated identically for rules purposes. Some few less fortunate individuals never Exalt and lack even the lesser abilities of the Touched. These unfortunates tend to lead lives of bitter disappointment and resentment but are still considered to be a noble of a Dynast House should they have been born into one. Dragon Blood's are less common in the lands beyond the Blessed Isle but are by no means rare. Most nations of good side have at least several hundred of them among the population. Most of who are on the weaker side of things. Exact numbers for non-imperial population levels are even harder to determine than imperial levels. The practical affects of this disproportionate distribution is a decisive advantage for a united Scarlet Empire able to overwhelm any other single or small group of nations. The Empire is currently anything but united and other nations are starting to consider challenging Imperial power. The Dragon Touched The Dragon Touched are also heirs to the Blessing of the Elemental Dragons but it has been diluted by generations uncounted of interbreeding with normal humans and is much reduced in power. The Dragon Touched are also known as The Touched, Dredges and the Impure. The majority of the Touched will never manifest anything more than a slight preference for one of the five elements. A smaller number will develop the ability to consciously manipulate essence in one of several forms (Ki abilities, Psychic Abilities, The Gift, Summoning, etc.) and are numbered among the ranks of Enlightened Mortals. An even smaller percentage of the Enlightened Touched manifests an increased focus and power with a particular element. (Elemental Summoners and Magic Users, Single Discipline Pyro and Cryo psychics) Rarely one of the Touched is possessed of greater elemental powers (Characters who spend Creation Points to purchase one of the Dragon Touched Advantages). The Touched easily number in the millions thru out Creation with the Blessed Isle enjoying more than a fair share of them. A surprising number of the more powerful Touched born on the Isle choose to leave as adults to seek their fate elsewhere. =Nature and Geography of Creation= Information on the nature and layout of Creation. Including a JPG map. =Starting Location= The campaign’s starting location and basic info. Category:UE Exalted Category:UE Rules Category:UE PC Rules